


feel your feelings fool!

by icepools



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, introducing the stupidest thing i’ve ever written, sort of??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icepools/pseuds/icepools
Summary: Holy fuck.That. That is a new kid. Lucas knows this for certain. They have never seen this boy in their life, certainly not on this bus, and this bothers them deeply because holy shit.or: lucas is probably in love with the new kid who sits next to them on the bus.
Relationships: Will Byers/Lucas Sinclair
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	feel your feelings fool!

Lucas loves riding the bus. 

They don’t know what it is about it, it just has a certain— _vibe._ They don’t have to do anything other than sit there and listen to music. Sure, sometimes they get thrown into fucking space when the school bus goes over a bump but that’s the only flaw, really.

They like to people watch, too. They have everyone that rides the bus with them pretty much memorized. Their appearances, anyway. And with having the people memorized comes having their stops memorized. And the stops themselves memorized. And their order. 

Etcetera, etcetera.

The biggest stop comes about seven minutes after Lucas’. On a lighter day, there’s five people that get on. On a heavy one, twelve or more. Lucas likes this one because it’s so big and it’s fun to see how many people are there that day.

Like always, they watch each person come on and count. One, girl with red hair. Two, blonde boy. Three, brunette girl number one. Four, brunette girl number two.

There’s a lot of brunette girls. Six or seven, altogether, maybe. This is probably why Lucas doesn’t really notice a _new_ brunette girl with short curly hair. She sort of blends in with the others. Seven.

Eight, boy with dark hair. Nine, boy with— _holy fuck._

That. _That_ is a new kid. Lucas knows this for certain. They have never seen this boy in their life, certainly not on this bus, and this bothers them deeply because _holy shit._

The boy is walking slowly, clearly nervous. Maybe he’s never been on a school bus before. Lucas is grateful for this, as well as their preference for the farther rows of the bus. It gives them plenty of time to take in the new boy’s features. 

He’s got the softest looking brown hair that isn’t quite curly but definitely isn’t straight. They’re not sure how to describe it. It’s like this kid has created his own hair texture. 

His _eyes._ Jesus Christ. His eyes are brown like his hair, so deep and warm and probably expressive and _gorgeous._ Lucas is so fucking fucked, they think. And they think that _before_ they even notice the freckles. _The freckles!_ This boy has fucking freckles and Lucas is a dead man. Kill them now, nothing will ever top this moment in their lifetime. Ever.

The boy is closer to Lucas’ row now, and they decide very quickly that they _need_ him to sit next to them. So they grab their bag from their left side and slide it onto their lap slowly. Making room for him. They stare at the boy until he looks over at their row and then they smile, just a little, hopefully inviting enough that he sits down. 

It seems to work. The boy smiles back and stops next to their row. He gives a tentative point to the empty space next to Lucas and they nod in a way they hope is nonchalant. Can’t have this boy knowing Lucas wants to grab his face and kiss him immediately _too_ quickly.

The rest of the bus ride from the boy’s stop to the school is only about five minutes. In that time, though, Lucas takes in everything about the boy sitting next to him from the neck down. (They’re too scared to look any higher, in case he notices.)

His hands are...pretty. Is that a thing? Having pretty hands? Whatever, it is now. His fingers are slender but not in a weird way. And they seem to be stained a million different colours. Lucas can pick out six shades of blue alone. The boy must be an artist then. 

He’s wearing this big navy blue sweatshirt that absolutely swallows him. Lucas vaguely noticed it earlier, and it was definitely at least below his hips when standing. In fact, it actually looks like Lucas’ size. Which means…

Oh, _God._

Lucas can’t even focus on the boy’s little beaded bracelets. They have to look out the window for the last minute of the bus ride.

How is this kid real? Did the universe just wake up one day and think _oh, that Lucas Sinclair kid seems to have a lot of problems, let’s give them the literal boy of their dreams, why not_?

Because, if so, _thank you, universe!_

They pull into the Hawkins High parking lot all too soon, and after a few moments of inching closer, the doors are opening and the students are standing up.

The boy starts walking down the aisle just before Lucas, obviously, and they take quick notice of the pins on his bag. Just a little rainbow with some text underneath it, a mirrorball (?), and what looks like a cream coloured cardigan.

These objects _should_ ring a bell, this Lucas knows, but they can’t place their origin and he can’t read the words on the rainbow one without slowing down a little, so they drop it. Hopefully they’ll be able to see them in more detail later.

Before they know it they’re thanking their bus driver and walking down the steps of the vehicle. (This part terrifies Lucas. Every year since freshman they’ve fallen on the stairs at least once. Senior year’s hasn’t come yet, but they know it’ll happen.)

Once they’re on solid ground again, they look around for the boy that sat next to them. Alas, they can find no big blue sweaters and/or wavy hair (that’s the word! Wavy. in their shock Lucas forgot the fucking word for _wavy_ ) in the crowd of students.

Oh well. Hopefully they have some classes with him. Or see him in the halls. Or literally anything.

Lucas soon learns they have none of these, and they do not see the boy from the bus for the rest of the school day. That’s fine. They’ll see him on the afternoon bus.

* * *

Lucas does not see the boy from the bus in the afternoon bus. They do not see him anywhere in town. All they have is their silent little interaction from yesterday morning.

So this morning, they make sure to look their very best just in case the boy is back. (Please, please be back.) You know, to make a good second impression. 

They _know_ they look good in forest green, better than anyone, so they pull on one of their sweatshirts in the colour. Hopefully it also sends the _hey look my sweaters are your oversized size! Please date me_ message they’re going for.

They spend _time,_ actual time in the bathroom, fixing up their hair and _moisturizing._ In the _morning!_

The only other big thing they pay attention to is their jeans. They grab the first light pair they see and make absolutely certain that they’re cuffed. Because they need to drop every hint they can.

They just hope the boy from the bus drops a couple hints back.

Time moves sort of slowly during their walk to the bus stop and subsequent riding of the bus. God, they really want the boy to be on again. They’re prepared to see him now, so hopefully they can actually _see_ him and not just ogle in shock from next to him for five minutes.

They pull up at the boy’s bus stop and Lucas stares desperately out the window, then realizes this is a bad idea and looks at the door and at the line of students walking onto the bus.

Lucas doesn’t even count, doesn’t even register who’s walking in, until a familiar pair of pretty brown eyes and fluffy little head of not-curly-curly brown hair comes into view.

Okay. Game time. The game? Basically take in every bit of this boy’s appearance in this five minute window.

First: he’s short. Not crazy short but definitely on the small side. He would probably come up to Lucas’ chest. They don’t dwell on that right now, though. They can think about it later.

The boy’s skin is fairly pale. He’s not, like, Snow White pale or anything, but he’s up there. His light skin makes the freckles that sit on his cheeks, across his nose and just a little on his forehead look even darker. Jesus. Okay. Next.

Cute little button nose. Perfect eyebrows. Fairly small physique. _Crazy_ long eyelashes, what the fuck?

Wait, how did Lucas see those?

Oh, _God._ The boy is sitting next to him. How did they miss that? In their blatant staring they fucking missed the boy of their dreams sitting down next to them. _Willingly. No questions asked._ He just...sat down.

Lucas doesn’t want to be too obvious with their staring, now, so they just glance at him from the corner of their eyes. All they really get is the boy’s soft jawline and the tiny smile that seems like it’s just permanently on his pretty little mouth.

There’s the word.

Pretty.

Lucas smiles, almost subconsciously. He’s pretty. That’s what he is. 

They risk a final glance in his direction, just before they turn onto the street the high school resides on.

_Pretty._

* * *

The boy was not on the bus again yesterday afternoon. This leads Lucas to believe that he simply doesn’t take it after school. Which is fine. Maybe he’s just catching up on school work. He had missed about two months of it, although they would think he’d gotten the gist of the information at his old school…

Whatever. It’s fine. Lucas still has the mornings. 

They’ve decided that they’re just going to try and look extra nice...every day. That way it feels less like extra-effort-for-the-boy-you-think-is-cute (pretty) and more like you-just-look-like-this-every-day.

The process is faster this time, and Lucas gets to take a nice, leisurely walk to the bus stop instead of speed walking. They _love_ when this happens. Since it’s getting closer and closer to winter, the sun rises much later, and Lucas’ morning walks are usually pretty dark. They’re always alone. It’s...peaceful. Nice.

Is the boy from the bus walking to his stop right now? Probably not. Lucas takes a whole seven minutes to get to him, so that wouldn’t make sense. Maybe if they knew where he lived they’d be able to figure out some timing.

God, they sound like a stalker.

They just want to know _everything_ about this kid. They’ve only seen his appearance and apparent friendliness (the little smiles they exchanged is all they have to go off of for that one) and they like those a _lot._ Throw in his personality, _voice,_ literally everything else about him…

Yeah. Lucas can most definitely get behind those. 

They only have to wait a couple minutes for their bus to arrive. (Maybe they should’ve walked a little faster, but whatever.) Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the boy’s stop to come. 

They haven’t worried about him sitting somewhere else. Should they? Maybe. But they’re confident the boy likes sitting next to them, too.

They just hope they’ll talk soon. 

Or do something. 

The boy _does_ sit next to them again, thank god. Lucas takes in his knit green sweater with colourful stripes and smiles. This boy loves sweaters, which, _fuck yeah,_ so does Lucas. They can share.

Lucas glances down, out of the corner of their eyes, and sees that the boy is on his phone. That’s new. The last two rides he just sat there without it, probably listening to music but Lucas isn’t sure.

But today the phone is on and in his hands, and he’s frantically typing out texts to whoever he’s messaging.

Lucas doesn’t feel great about it, but they turn their head just slightly to try and see the messages. They just _need_ to find out more about him.

They learn very quickly that the boy is both the lamest and coolest person ever. He makes a couple jokes to his texting partner, and they’re so _dumb,_ he’s so dumb, but it just _makes sense._ With him. Dumb, stupid jokes for a stupidly adorable boy.

Lucas looks away after reading three of the boy’s texts. They feel sort of gross doing it. 

They glance at it again. No worries, right?

Lucas only reads one more text, but it’s all they need. 

It reads: **SHUT THE FUCK UP BYERS**

_Byers._

That’s not a first name, and if it is then Lucas is sincerely sorry. But they have a _name._ Probably. _A name!_

Byers. Something Byers. 

The boy on the bus’ last name (?) is Byers. 

And _Byers_ (a temporary name, now, until Lucas knows his first), has a gorgeous smile. Real smile, not the little one he gave Lucas the other day or the one that he always seems to have. A purely happy and practically _giddy_ smile, big and soft and perfect.

This is a trend with Byers: perfection. 

Lucas needs to talk to him immediately or they will actually die. 

* * *

The next day, Thursday, Byers is on his phone again. Hopefully this becomes a habit because Lucas is learning a lot. 

Well, not really. All they’ve gained is the knowledge that Byers has friends. (Singular? Plural? Unclear.) And his last name! That’s something. 

Lucas tries not to look _too_ much, that’s creepy as shit. They only read Byers’ texts, and even then it’s only one or two. They do not look for anything outside of the messages app. His pictures are none of their business. 

Byers closes out of his texts and opens...oh. 

_Oh, god._

His music app.

This is perfect. Flawless, really. Nothing says everything about a person like their taste in music. Lucas watches Byers navigate the app intently, doing their best to catch some of the songs. 

Unfortunately, Byers goes straight to the search button. So Lucas won’t see the _whole_ picture, but they’ll get a sense. Which might be all they can ask for at this point. 

They watch Byers type a T, then an H…..the. Okay, cool. The. The whats?

(Lucas is highly aware that what they’re doing is super embarrassing and stupid. But they can’t bring themselves to care. They want to know about Byers, and this is the way to do it.

Maybe.)

_The Clash._

Lucas practically _swoons._

He’s into fucking _80s rock music._

Is that not the most adorable thing you’ve ever heard? Jesus Christ.

Lucas doesn’t see the song he picks but it doesn’t matter. Byers likes The Clash, Byers likes old music. It’s all coming together. 

That can’t be _it,_ though, and that’s the exciting part. Maybe he’s into mid-2000s pop, too. Or fucking...70s folk. Lucas has literally no idea. They don’t have much. 

But they do have this. 

One more piece to the puzzle. 

Lucas wonders, almost nervously, how big this puzzle really is. 

* * *

Lucas has never been _sadder_ for it to be Friday. 

Friday for Lucas means the weekend, obviously, and it means hanging out with their friends, usually, but they don’t think they have the energy for that this weekend. 

They have to say goodbye to Byers for _two whole days._

They’re heartbroken. They didn’t even want to get on the bus this morning, but they knew it would hurt even more. Seeing Byers one last time before the weekend comes will be good. Help them cope. 

(Cope. _Cope!_ Over a boy they haven’t spoken a word to and only know the last name of. This whole situation is fucking humiliating. Remind them to _never_ tell their friends about it. They can never know.)

The only good thing about today’s Friday (other than seeing Byers) is that they can listen to _Friday I’m In Love_ by The Cure, _on_ a Friday. Their weekly tradition.

And, hey, it’s fitting. 

Not that Lucas is, like, _in love._ Because that’d be crazy. Insane. Completely bonkers. 

They’re just...attracted. 

Intensely. 

Infatuated. 

Maybe slightly obsessed but in the not creepy way. 

Lucas sighs inwardly and stares out the window as their bus pulls into Byers’ stop. They’re not being creepy. 

Maybe the looking at his phone thing is kind of creepy. They’ll lay off of that. (But the music app is probably fine.)

Lucas watches the crowd of students climb onto the bus, Byers following in the stream. They smile a little, not even really aware of it. 

Byers sits down next to them without even hesitating. Lucas’ face feels a little hot.

He just looks straight ahead, not pulling out his phone, so Lucas feels okay about staring. They take in every little detail, every little freckle, memorizing Byers even further for the weekend. 

They feel their phone go off in their pocket, which gives them an idea that they’re kind of surprised they didn’t think of earlier. Taking one last look at Byers, they take their phone and open Instagram, hoping and praying this works.

It does not. 

There are no accounts with _Byers_ in the name. Which is totally understandable, Lucas doesn’t use their last name on their social media either. But that’s just Instagram. Maybe the other ones will have something. 

They check Twitter. And Snapchat, and TikTok. Every social media app they have. 

Nothing.

Fucking shit.

And they’re pulling into the school, now, so Lucas has to (silently) say goodbye to Byers for the weekend. 

Byers gets off first, as usual, and, as usual, is gone by the time Lucas has the mind to look for him. They sigh a little, but smile. 

_Goodbye, Byers from the bus. See you Monday._

* * *

Lucas is going insane. _Insane._

They haven’t seen Byers, a boy they’ve never spoken to and don’t know much about, in two days, and they think they might die. Genuinely, if they don’t see him soon they will actually drop dead. 

So they sit on the bus now and bounce their leg anxiously as they get closer and closer to Byers’ stop. 

There’s something they’ve been thinking about, these past couple days. Very worrisome. 

What if Byers doesn’t sit next to them today?

Like, what if he just...forgot? It’s totally possible. Lucas could never forget Byers but they can’t say the same for him. They have no clue. 

They stop at Byers’ stop and Lucas just starts, they don’t know, fucking...manifesting. 

_Byers please sit next to me still please remember that we’re like, seat buddies or whatever please please please_

Whether it’s the half-assed pleas or just Byers himself, when he gets onto the bus he looks at Lucas, as if confirming that he’s coming over. 

Lucas is just glad that their memories of Byers weren’t wrong. He’s still as pretty as he was on Friday. Maybe even more so. 

And, holy shit, he’s wearing a _cardigan._ Fucking. Murder them right now. Jesus.

Byers sits down next to them, and even though they aren’t touching, Lucas can feel the warmth radiating off of him. What they wouldn’t give to feel that warmth against their own skin.

They bet Will’s skin is, like, insanely soft. Otherworldly. Like the rest of him. And—

Lucas is drawn out of their thoughts as they see Byers navigating through his music app again. This is important.

They look even more closely this time, trying to see exactly what songs he’s picking.

He clicks on a playlist, and just before he hits shuffle, he reads the first song on it: _Enchanted_ by Taylor Swift.

So he’s a Swiftie. Noted. 

Lucas looks again and sees—

_Holy fuck. Oh god. No fucking way._

Byers is listening to _‘Til Tomorrow_ by The Regrettes. 

Which is only Lucas’ favourite band of all time. 

Screw what they said on Friday about love being a crazy term. Screw it. He is madly in love with this kid. One thousand percent. 

_Okay,_ Jesus, take _that_ down a notch. Obviously they’re not in love with him. But maybe…

In like. Lucas is in like with Byers. 

Yeah. That sounds about right.

* * *

Lucas has a thought today, on the bus ride home in the afternoon, that terrifies them wholeheartedly. Scariest thought they’ve ever had. Scariest thought _anyone_ has ever had. Ever. 

_What if Byers isn’t gay?_

They kind of just...assumed. Based on—well, based on a lot. His clothing style, for one. It _looks_ like the kind of shit gay people wear. But Lucas probably shouldn’t assume, they’re sure plenty of straight guys wear oversized sweatshirts and knit cardigans.

Also, they vaguely remember him using tons of emoticons when texting his friends. (This was back when Lucas read a few of them, they stopped doing that after the first week ‘cause it felt _too_ invasive.) Are emoticons a queer thing? Maybe?

_And!_ His music taste! The Taylor Swift and Regrettes music both lead to the gay conclusion. And maybe the classic older stuff, too. But straight people can listen to that shit. 

Straight people can do any of those things. So…

It’s a possibility. Normally, Lucas would try and bring their hopes down a bit. Assume that Byers _isn’t_ gay. But that would fucking suck. They really like him. Which is stupid, but, anyways. 

This would not be the first time Lucas has found themself attracted to a straight person. And they survived those other times.

But they don’t really want to.

They’ll see if they can find something else. A stronger hint towards Byers’ possible queerness. 

* * *

The next day, Lucas watches Byers open his music app, type _loona_ into the search bar, and start playing _Everyday I Love You._

Yep. Definitely gay.

* * *

Byers was normal on the bus ride. Sat with Lucas, listened to his strange blend of 80s rock and K-Pop, and didn’t talk to Lucas. 

Lucas did not talk to him either, so they suppose they’re even.

It’s lunch now, and just like normal Lucas hasn’t seen Byers. They’re used to it by now. 

The past few days, Max has been absent from their lunch table, leaving just Lucas, Micah and Dustin. The three didn’t even acknowledge it, just let Max disappear for a while. 

They’re back today, though, and they have someone with them. 

A girl, shorter than them, dressed for the weather in a huge flannel over a t-shirt. Her hair is short and curly and looks soft. She’s got pale-ish skin and freckles. 

She sort of looks like—

“Hey, guys!” Max says brightly, plopping into the seat across from Lucas and next to Dustin. The girl with brown hair sits next to them. 

“Hi. Who’s this?” Micah asks, never one to beat around the bush. Max rolls their eyes at her curiosity, but gestures grandly to the girl next to them as she waves. 

“I’m El,” she says. Her voice is silky smooth and oh-so kind. Lucas knows they’re going to be friends.

The others at the group introduce themselves, and she smiles at all of them. What a sweetheart.

“She’s in my psych class. And she’s our new best friend.” Max crosses their arms over their chest and nods defiantly. _That’s that,_ it says.

No one else at the table argues. Besides, El seems nice. And like she’ll...fit into the group. In that sense.

“ _Anyways,_ ” Max continues, unfolding their arms and digging into their bag. They pull out a notebook and open it to a recent page. A note in their scribbled handwriting reads:

**_PARTY @ STEVE GRAY’S FRIDAY 9PM_ **

“We’re going.”

Dustin and Lucas both groan loudly, but Micah doesn’t seem phased. Lucas thinks she’s insane. 

“No way. Are we even invited?” Dustin shakes his head violently, harshly stabbing a fork into his salad.

“Anyone’s welcome. Steve Gray’s nice, too, so we’re good.”

“And it's on a _Friday?_ Max, there’s a new episode of _The Mandalorian_ that day. We always watch together on release day!” Lucas is practically _whining,_ they don’t want to go at all. They just want to spend another weekend wallowing over not seeing—

Hold on.

“I’m with Lucas on that one, actually. I _love_ that show. I’d rather do that.” El pipes up, now, and despite the epiphany Lucas has just had they still high five her.

Max groans and flops their head on the table. “You guys are so _boring!_ It’s one night. We can watch _The Mandalorian_ next week and do a back-to-back thing,”

Lucas pretends to consider this, swirling their spoon around in their macaroni and cheese. 

“Fine, okay,” they say at last. 

“ _Lucas!_ ”

“ _Ha!_ Four to one, Dustin! We’re _going._ ”

Lucas smiles at their friends but doesn’t say anything more. They’re focused on one thing and one thing only. 

Finding Byers at that party.

* * *

Lucas doesn’t like parties very much, but they’re trying to pull through for Byers. 

Of course, part of them realizes that Byers might not like parties either and therefore isn’t here, but they’re trying not to think about it. 

Priority number one is Byers. They’ve been searching the whole night for his pretty brown hair or pretty brown eyes or any other pretty part of him. 

Priority number _two_ is their other friends. Max, Micah, Dustin, El, now. Literally anyone. They’re completely lost in this house, and if they weren’t looking for Byers they would probably just hide in the bathroom and wait for one of his friends to show up.

( _Yes,_ they’ve tried texting. Apparently all of their friends decided that phones were a no-go tonight.)

After a few minutes of just sitting on the couch and watching drunk people dance, Lucas decides that this is _not_ the place to look for their people. They do one last scan of the living room for Byers, then stand and leave to search the house. 

They have no luck with the kitchen, or the dining room. The line for the bathroom is also no use. Lucas is starting to lose hope. Where the _fuck_ are their—

“Lucas!”

Oh thank god. 

“Jesus _Christ,_ Max, please never leave me again. That was horrible.”

Max laughs loudly, but does put a hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “Poor baby. What have you been doing?”

“Literally nothing. Where are the others?”

“Micah and Dustin are downstairs. There’s some people watching movies down there. El is—there she is! El!”

Max waves violently above their head as El gets closer to them. She smiles when they’re together again. 

“Hey, guys. Are we going down now? Oh! Lucas, this is—“

A boy appears from behind a couple partygoers as El speaks. A very, very familiar boy. 

Byers’ eyes widen almost comically when they make eye contact. Lucas opens and closes their mouth a few times, trying to get _something_ out but failing miserably.

They can feel Max staring at them in amusement, and El is doing the same with Byers. They don’t even care, though.

_Just say something, Sinclair, oh my god._

“Um,” Lucas says _finally._ Their voice cracks and they sound so _dumb,_ this is terrible. “Hi.”

Byers just squeaks a little in response, face red. (It’s a good look on him, and a cute noise, but Lucas is slightly distracted.)

“You two know each other?” Max asks. Their tone sounds so _teasing,_ and Lucas knows they’ve got a sly grin on their face.

El’s eyes widen, too, now, and she laughs a little. “Will, don’t tell me _this_ is—“

Will.

_Will._

_His name is Will._

Will Byers.

A smile slowly spreads across Lucas’ face. Despite not knowing what they’re smiling at, Byers—no, _Will_ —starts smiling too.

El and Max are still talking, they think, but they’re looking at the boy they’ve been crushing on for two weeks now, and they don’t even care.

“...hey.” Will says, still smiling, after a few moments of silence, and _wow._ His voice makes so much sense. He sounds so kind and sweet and pretty and perfect.

“Lucas,” Lucas says, almost panicked, before realizing that they hadn’t prefaced their introduction with the first part of an introduction, “I’m Lucas. My name is Lucas.”

Will’s smile gets even bigger. “Yeah, I heard,” Then, after a beat, “I’m Will.”

“I heard, yeah.” Holy shit, they’re _bantering._ They’re having banter. Exchanges of words and jokes and teases. _Lucas is having banter with Will Byers from the bus._

El and Max long forgotten, Lucas steps forward until they’re only a foot from Will. His face gets even redder, if that’s possible.

They don’t speak for a minute, then Byers opens his mouth and blurts out, “Do you wanna go upstairs?” After the words leave his mouth he squeaks again and slaps a hand over his mouth. “Oh my God, I don’t know why I—”

“Yeah, okay.” Lucas says, smiling. They hesitate a little before wrapping a hand around Will’s wrist, the one by his face, and slowly removing it from his mouth.

They think El and Max might be fucking yelling at them or something, but neither of them pay their friends any mind as they turn towards the stairs and go up.

They knock on some doors until they don’t get a response, then open it to reveal what looks like a guest bedroom. Both Will and Lucas don’t say anything even after Lucas shuts the door behind them.

Finally, after some very awkward and very thick silence, Will lets out a soft, “The only reason I came tonight was so I could find you.”

Lucas looks at him, wide-eyed. “Really?”

“Mhm,”

Will’s blush has gone down significantly but it’s still present. It’s cute. He’s cute.

Lucas decides to get the ball rolling and sits down on the bed. They can practically see how Will relaxes, following close behind.

“I, um,” Lucas begins. They can’t quite look Will in the eyes, so they look at his mouth before realizing that that’s even _worse_ so they look at the painting on the wall behind him. “I did too. Only came here to see you.”

Will grins at them, all giddy and flustered and adorable.

“This feels weird,”

“You think so?”

“I do,” Will nods along to his words, pulling the sleeves of his sweater over his hands, “I don’t know, I wasn’t exactly confident that you’d be here. Didn’t really think you’d be a party person,”

Lucas shrugs a little. “I’m not, usually,”

“Yeah, me neither.”

The _but I became one for you_ goes unsaid, but they both hear it.

After some more silence, Lucas squeezes their eyes shut and says, a little too quietly, “Let’s play twenty questions.”

When they open their eyes again, Will is looking at them with an expression they can’t quite peg.

“Okay,” he says, that little smile he always has peeking out a little, “Me first, though.”

Lucas bites the inside of their cheek to keep their smile in check. This kid is their soulmate, they’re sure of it. “Okay.”

Will doesn’t hesitate, “Why’d you want me to sit with you on the first day?”

He doesn’t ask _did you want me to._ It’s _why did you._ Lucas doesn’t know why that makes them feel a little light-headed.

“You want the real answer or a bullshit one that’ll make things less awkward?”

“Real, please. For all of them,”

“Okay...real answer, I wanted you to sit with me ‘cause I thought you were cute. Like, insanely so.”

Will’s face goes bright red again and they nod with wide eyes.

“Was that weird?”

“Is that, um, is that your question?”

“No, no, hang on…” Putting aside the embarrassment of their answer, they pause. What do they want to know? What’s been bugging them over the past two weeks? “Why weren’t you on the bus in the afternoon?”

Will visibly cringes, scrunching up his nose a little. _Cute._ “You’re gonna laugh at me,”

“Sorry, did you hear the answer I gave you? We’re past that, Will.” Will’s name on their lips feels so right. They hope Will says their name soon.

He sighs a little, then nods. “I...I got nervous. After seeing you in the morning I didn’t know if I could handle it again,” Will pauses, searching for the words, “I was so attracted to _you_ that I was worried I would just, I don’t know, confess some sort of undying love to you if we had to sit together for ten extra minutes.”

Holy shit. Holy shit? Holy _shit._ “That’s…”

“Super weird and embarrassing?”

“Really cute.”

Lucas has no idea where this confidence came from, but they are _not_ complaining. They hope it sticks around for the rest of the night.

“ _Oh._ ”

Lucas just grins, nudging Will’s knee with their own. “Your turn.”

Wll does hesitate this time, biting his lip a little and rubbing his hand with his thumb. “Okay, this is one. Did you have a name for me in your head?”

Lucas exhales a little. This one is easy and not embarrassing. “Yeah. I called you Byers,”

“What? How did you figure out my last name?”

  
Fuck. Lucas doesn’t point out that this would technically be one of Will’s questions and just groans a little, scratching at the back of their head. “I looked at your phone to see if I could find anything about you?”

“ _You looked at my phone?_ ”

“Nope, nope, my turn! Did you have a name for me?”

Will is giving Lucas a major stink eye right now, but he does answer the question. “Yeah, you were Row Twenty because that’s where we sit. I counted on the second morning. Can I go now?”

Shit. Shit! That’s adorable. _He counted what their row number was!_ It takes a lot of self-control from Lucas to not lean forward and just kiss Will on the spot.

“Sure, you can go.”

“Thanks,” Will says dryly, but there’s a smile on his face that gives him away, “Now _what_ was that about looking at my phone?”

From there, it’s all smooth sailing. Will isn’t actually mad about the phone thing which is good. Lucas learns that Will is El’s _brother,_ which makes sense. They later ask why he didn’t join her at lunch yesterday, and Will confesses that he was too anxious to meet so many people at once.

Their game of _20 questions_ quickly just becomes _asking each other questions and flirting a lot,_ which is fine by Lucas. They talk about their classes. Where they want to go for university. (They’re both looking at schools in New York.) Lucas learns that Will moved to Hawkins from Chicago, which they think is a major downgrade. When they voice as much, Will just laughs a little, looks Lucas in the eyes, allows his gaze to lower for just a second, and says, “No, not really.”

Will’s pins are based on Taylor Swift songs. His favourite movie is _The Princess Bride._ He wants to be an animator when he’s older. He struggles with depression and anxiety. He didn’t take a school bus in Chicago which is why he was so nervous on the first day. 

Lucas tells Will that they love The Regrettes. They say that their favourite movie is _School of Rock._ They want to be a journalist. Their bus ride, both morning and afternoon, is the best part of their day, but they like the morning better because they have the best seat mate in Hawkins, no, in the whole world.

It’s the best night of Lucas’ life.

But all good things come to an end, don’t they?

Will is opening his phone to check on their friends, when his face falls. Lucas’ does too, even though they don’t know what’s happening.

“Everything okay?”

Will shakes his head, looking up at Lucas with a frown. “My mom wants El and I home. Like, now.”

Oh.

“Okay. Um,” They’re not ready for this to be over. Will isn’t either, they can tell. “Can I ask one more question?”

Will nods, but it’s a little melancholic. 

“Can I have your number?”

Will grins, disappointment temporarily forgotten. “Smooth, Sinclair. Really smooth.”

He does, in fact, give Lucas his number.

But then the realization that their time together is over for now comes back, and they look at each other sadly.

“I should, uh—”

“Right, yeah, let’s—”

They both stand at the same time, and don’t break eye contact as they walk to the door.

Will’s cheeks are red again, and he’s avoiding looking at Lucas. And that just won’t do, will it?

“Hey, Will,” they say gently, and Will looks up at them, “I’m really glad I found you,”

Will smiles, a little sad but still sweet. “Yeah, Lucas, me too.”

They stand there, smiling at each other, for a solid minute, before Will huffs out a breath and stands on his toes. Before Lucas can really compute what’s happening, Will’s lips are softly pressed against their cheek. They forget how to breathe.

Will lingers for a moment, letting his touch _really_ sink in, and Lucas is dying, they’re dead, they’ve died and this is Heaven _holy shit._

Will pulls his face away from Lucas’ but keeps his hands on their shoulders. He’s grinning widely, bottom lip pulled between his teeth.

“I’ll see you Monday, Lucas.”

And then he leaves the bedroom, and Lucas just stands there, fingers lightly touching where Will kissed them.

_Where he kissed them._

Oh, Jesus fuck.

* * *

Lucas is on the bus again.

Last Friday was probably the best day of their life. They could’ve spent another four hours talking to Will if he hadn’t needed to go home. 

_Will._

Last night the puzzle was finally completed. Obviously there’s a lot more Lucas still wants to learn, and some...other stuff they’d like to do, but at least they’re finally _getting somewhere._

They didn’t text over the weekend, and Lucas was surprisingly okay with it. They were honestly too jittery and giddy from their talk with Will to even think about it. They’re sure he felt the same way. 

Even though they know each other now, and they’ve spoken and everything, Lucas is still a little nervous, especially as they approach Will’s bus stop. Will their morning bus rides change? Will they start talking? What if Will _wasn’t_ excited like Lucas was and is going to take the first opportunity he can to stop sitting next to them?

Lucas is given no more time to worry because the bus stops in front of the sidewalk and the door opens. 

Will is the first one on, and he’s practically running up the steps to get on.

All of Lucas’ previous worries disappear immediately and they grin widely. Will looks over at them and returns it, walking quickly down the aisle to sit down next to them. 

This all feels so...normal. Except now they know things about each other. And they’ve touched. Romantically.

Will sits down and glances at Lucas, but doesn’t say anything. Lucas doesn’t either. They know talking on the silent bus is awkward.

Will then stares at the window at the front of the vehicle with a contemplative look on his face. He’s considering something. Finally, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and turns it on. On instinct, Lucas looks away.

Then their phone buzzes in their pocket. 

They look at Will, who is pointedly _not_ looking back at them. He’s still typing. 

Slowly, Lucas pulls their phone out and watches as the screen lights up with messages from Will.

They look over at him, smiling, but he’s still typing. Jesus, what is he even saying?

Lucas doesn’t wait any longer and unlocks their phone, opening up their previously non-existent conversation with Will.

**byers <3 (7:44AM): **

_hi :)_

_it’s will_

_the one sitting next to u_

_i wanted to talk but i felt awkward actually speaking_

_so i texted u!_

_fuck is that too many messages in a row_

_oh god_

**lucas (7:46AM):**

_no it’s not :)_

_i happen to like people who send tons of texts in a row_

**byers <3 (7:46AM):**

_that’s a very.......specific thing to like_

**lucas (7:46AM):**

_well i have very specific taste_

**byers <3 (7:46AM)**

_um_

_i won’t ask what this specific taste looks like for me_

_but el was wondering so u should tell me so i can tell her haha_

**lucas (7:47AM):**

_well if EL wants to know then :)_

_short little gay boys with curly hair and freckles that wear big sweaters and listen to classic rock and kpop definitely fit into that specific criteria to a t_

**byers <3 (7:47AM):**

_right_

_so that’s what you’re looking for?_

_how’s that been going? you think you’ll find someone soon?_

**lucas (7:47AM):**

_actually i think i already have :)_

Lucas has _the_ dumbest grin on their face right now. They can feel it straining against their cheeks. Anybody that looks at them will probably think they’re crazy.

They can’t even be embarrassed about it, though, because when they look to their left, Will is smiling just as wide.


End file.
